


We Can Be Heroes

by izzysapphic, vulcanarmr



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Dean Winchester, Castiel Needs a Hug (Supernatural), Dean Winchester Needs a Hug, High School, Hurt Dean Winchester, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Internalized Homophobia, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Castiel (Supernatural), POV Charlie Bradbury, POV Dean Winchester, POV Jo Harvelle, Protective Castiel (Supernatural), Protective Dean Winchester, Superhero Dean Winchester, Tags May Change, Trans Dean Winchester, bc yES, duh - Freeform, he/they pronouns for castiel, minor past relationships not mentioned in tags, spider man au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:47:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28028010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/izzysapphic/pseuds/izzysapphic, https://archiveofourown.org/users/vulcanarmr/pseuds/vulcanarmr
Summary: Dean Winchester. Senior in high school. Doesn’t like math. Really good at mechanics and building stuff. Pretty ordinary. But the kicker?Fucking superhero.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Charlie Bradbury/Jo Harvelle
Comments: 9
Kudos: 24





	1. One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, am i starting yet another fic, when i have two that need updating? yes. yes i am. izzysapphic came up with this idea and told me about it, and i fell in love with it. we had to write it. we have a lot planned for this, and a lot that is still uncertain, but i have a feeling we're gonna love how this turns out <3
> 
> this isn't necessarily based on any particular spiderman movie or anything, it's kind of just a universe where dean is spiderman. also dean's middle name is alexander because we said so!!
> 
> title from heroes by david bowie.
> 
> some warnings in this chapter for internalized homophobia

**DEAN**

  
  
  


To say that everything hurts is both an understatement and an exaggeration. But it’s all Dean can think about as he sits with his head down on the desk. And it makes sense, even if it doesn’t really. Not everything hurts. Just certain parts of his body, so that’s an exaggeration. But the parts that do hurt, hurt like getting hit by a damn train. Understatement. Which also isn’t even a little bit accurate, by the way. It was a truck, not a train.

The sleep deprivation paired with that pain makes it near impossible to pay attention to class, or anything. Which is why he’s trying to sleep instead. It’s Pre-Calc, anyway, which means even at full focus, he wouldn’t understand a lot of it. So sleep. Or at least, attempted sleep. Something’s poking at his arm, each jab pushing a tingling sting all the way up to his neck. He tries to ignore it, because it’s probably just damaged nerves acting up or something, since humans aren’t really supposed to get hit by a fucking truck. But the poking persists, and he finally raises his head to search for the source. He’s tired and irritated and he completely forgets where he is for a moment until he sees Charlie stabbing at his arm with a pencil. He blinks slowly as their eyes meet, before letting out a short breath. “Yeah…?” he mumbles softly, his surroundings and the voice of the teacher slowly catching up to him. Charlie points forward with the same pencil she’d just been harassing his arm with. He slowly follows the tip to the white board, and he shifts in his seat as he makes eye contact with a variety of equations that have no comprehensible meaning.

“I really think you should try sleeping pills,” Charlie comments. It takes Dean a moment to figure out what she means. He hasn’t exactly told her what he really does until about three in the morning some nights. He just says that he can’t sleep, and now everyone he knows thinks he’s an insomniac. It can get annoying, but it’s easier to just say that.

“I don’t need them…” he mumbles, half-distractedly. That much is true, anyway. If he wanted to, he could sleep early, but he’s a bit too busy for that. Because, like most teenagers do, Dean has a secret. Well. More like three. Or two. Two and half. The half is a half because some people know he was born into a girl’s body, and some people don’t. But unlike most teenagers, the other two secrets are big and important and life-threatening and actually secret. Or one of them is, at least. The other is...complicated. But what’s arguably the biggest one? That’s pretty simple.

Dean Alexander Winchester. Senior in high school. Doesn’t like math. Really good at mechanics and building stuff. Pretty ordinary. But the kicker? 

Fucking superhero.

And a pretty popular one at that. The first youtube video popped up about a year ago, the title in all caps with seven exclamation points. ‘SPIDER MAN DODGES CAR AND CLIMBS UP BUILDING!!!!!!!’. It blew up, and Dean’s been popular since. Not that he can ever admit that he’s popular. No one knows he’s who everybody calls Spiderman, and no one ever can. It’s just the way things are gonna go, because it makes things easier, and because he doesn’t want to get anyone he knows in trouble. Overall, it’s just simpler. But whatever. That’s why Dean didn’t sleep almost at all last night. That’s how he got hit by a truck, which belonged to a kidnapper that he’s now managed to hand over to the police. And that’s all he’s known for the past year and a half, give or take. Since the field trip and the spider and the confusion. He’s pretty used to all of it now. Besides, it gives him something to do, something useful when he can help people with these abilities. And he needs that. It’s kind of selfish. Of course, he helps people because he wants them to be okay, he wants that, but a part of it is that he needs to feel useful. If he doesn’t, he might just die.

“You keep falling asleep in Smith’s class,” Charlie says, and Dean looks down. “You should at least see a doctor about not being able to sleep. You _need_ sleep.”

He scoffs out a laugh. “Maybe,” he says. Charlie opens her mouth to speak, and the bell rings just as she does. Dean laughs again, because in his tired state, the fact that it looks like Charlie’s the one making the noise of the bell because her mouth’s open is the funniest thing ever. She seems to read his mind, because her eyes roll so far back in her skull that Dean wonders if she can see her brain. She smiles wide at the same time, and Dean smiles, tiredly, back as he shoves his almost untouched notebook into his bag. Charlie packs up her own things. “Let’s just go to lunch,” Dean says as he stands and swings his bag over his aching shoulder. Pain darts like lightning through his spine, but he tries to ignore it. He’s had worse, at some point. He’ll probably have worse, later on. 

Him and Charlie are sitting at their usual table in the cafeteria a moment later, along with Benny and Jo. Cas is nowhere to be seen, but they’re usually a little late to lunch, since their class is at the other side of the building and hallways are crowded. Sam doesn’t have the same lunch period as the rest of them. Dean spots Cas walking towards the table soon enough and he grins. He’s been too tired to bother smiling much, but when he sees Cas, he grins. See, here’s where the last secret comes in. This one’s something that almost seems scarier than the whole Spider Man thing, sometimes. And only two people alive know it. Dean thinks dudes, and some people who aren’t dudes or chicks, are cute. It’s something he’s tried to deny since he first looked at a guy and thought ‘kiss’, since he told his dad and his dad said “you wanna be a man, fine, but that means you gotta act like a man, which means you like _girls”._ But it never works. Sure, he tends to lean towards girls. But he can’t ignore the other people he’s found attractive and wondered how it’d feel to kiss. And on top of that, as if it wasn’t enough, Dean really thinks Cas is cute. So. Dean’s into not just girls, and he’s into Cas. A lot.

“Hello,” Cas says as he sits next to Dean. Everyone greets him, and Dean is still grinning at him when their eyes meet. Glassy blue irises leave Dean breathless. The pain in his body seems irrelevant for a second.

“Hey,” he says, a bit later than the rest, because he’s distracted. Castiel smiles, and Dean feels a tingle at the back of his neck. He looks around, because he thinks it’s his spider-sense for a moment, but he realizes it’s just Cas being perfect and making his body act up. Or maybe it is his spider-sense, trying to warn him that this three year crush on Cas needs to end, because it’s dangerous, because Dean shouldn’t feel this way, because his dad’d be pissed if he were still alive, because-

“How are you, Dean?” Cas asks. Dean realizes he’s still looking at them. He clears his throat slightly and picks up his apple.

“I’m pretty good,” he answers, ignoring the pain that slowly becomes tangible again. “Tired, but okay.” He takes a bite of his apple, making a bit of a face. He hates green apples. “What about you, sunshine?”

Cas shrugs slightly. “Alright. I’m two assignments ahead in Government, so I don’t have much to do in the class as of now. It’s nice to have a second study period, basically.”

Dean snorts a laugh that hurts his ribs. “Okay, you’re smart, no need to rub it in,” he teases. Cas rolls their eyes playfully.

“Dean, I have a B in that class.”

“Oooh, that’s sooo bad.”

“It’s not, but it’s not amazing either, it’s just an average grade.”

“Actually, the average grade in the American school system is a C.”

“I didn’t know that. So I’m not as smart as you think.”

Dean smiles softly, looking down. “Whatever.” There’s silence between them, and Dean starts to tune into a story Charlie and Jo are telling. Benny’s just listening, laughing his ass off the funny bits. The laugh reminds Dean of middle school, when he had the biggest crush on Benny for the duration of eight grade. Benny liked him too, apparently, because they were each other’s first kiss with someone who wasn’t a girl. They didn’t try anything other than kissing that one time in the bathroom, but they became better friends and still are. Benny’s the only person who knows about that secret, and Dean’s asked him not to bring it up to anyone.

“Can I ask you something?” Cas says, his voice barely above a whisper as he taps Dean’s shoulder and snaps Dean out of his thoughts. He met Cas freshman year of high school. They've been friends since. Dean looks at him quickly, trying not to flinch away at the stinging pain the tap brings to his arm. He can already tell that what Cas wants to ask is something that no one else is supposed to hear. He leans in closer.

“‘Course, you’re my best friend,” he says, just as quietly. His tongue tries to twist the word ‘best’ into ‘boy’, but Dean fights it. That’s ridiculous. “You can ask me anything.”

Cas looks at him like he’s considering whether he should, and then he leans real close, and Dean thinks he might pass out. Cas’ mouth is right next to his ear, and they both hover there for a moment. Dean has no idea of what Cas is about to ask, and it terrifies him. The awkwardness and tension of their position makes him grab his milk carton and take a sip, because he needs something to do unless he’s ready to become a blushing mess. Which he isn’t. Not in front of everyone. Especially not in front of Cas. “Are you the Spiderman?”

Dean chokes on his milk and is sent into a fit of coughs so violent that he can’t answer.

Well fuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed that first chapter, comments and kudos are always appreciated. new chapter should be up soon!!
> 
> have a lovely day/night <3
> 
> -vulcanarmr


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, we are back with another chapter!! hope you enjoy <3

**CASTIEL**

  
  
  


_The sky had darkened and was glossed over with a grey-orange from the city lights that was no match for the lively commotion of the street below as Castiel made his way home from the restaurant he works at. The bodies of people walking with their friends and lovers, buying street food, and enjoying the beauty of downtown at night pushed and brushed gently past his shoulders as he walked. He had held the strap of his bag tightly with one hand, passing by the bank and looking at his reflection in the glass window. A sigh. Despite the crowds of people that swam through the streets, the walk to the house where they and their sister Anael live had always been rather mundane. It wasn’t something terrible, but they wondered what sort of excitement could happen or was happening that they were missing out on._

_On this particular night when they looked at their reflection in the glass, as if yielding to their thoughts, they saw it was nearly empty. The exception, however, had been that the few people who were inside were either on the ground with their hands behind their heads, or standing above them. And there were guns. Castiel’s breathing had been drawn out of his chest and refused to go back in for a long while as his footsteps came to a stop in front of the door of the bank. Frozen, breathless, and suddenly very cold, he had watched for a few moments. When his mind finally caught up and forced him to react, he reached for the door to try to pull it open. His movements felt like they were part of a dream, like moving through water._

_The door had been locked._

_Castiel pried their hand away and turned to the passing people in the street. They had pulled their phone from their pocket, but it hadn’t reacted when they tried to turn it on. Oxygen found its way to their lungs again. And they walked up to the first person in their line of vision and asked, pleaded for their phone. They pointed at the building. The person looked inside the glass, before their expression had changed. Slowly. As if in a slow motion cut of a movie. The phone had been out and in the person’s hand as they began to dial 9-1-1 after what seemed to be hours, but something in the corner of Castiel’s eye pulled his gaze away from the person and the phone with a snap of his head. And he saw him. The Spiderman._

_He had been on the side of the bank building, looking in Castiel’s direction, from what they could tell, and simply staring. Castiel stared back. The Spiderman moved again after a moment, moving down closer to them. They remained unmoving. “Get out of here, okay?!” the man yelled, and the voice was one Castiel recognized. He couldn’t think of why. He couldn’t get himself to move, like some sort of nightmare._

_And then the gunshots._

_Castiel flinched and pulled his gaze away as he crouched slightly on instinct. There was screaming. And he heard the voice of Spiderman again. “Fucking_ go!”

_Everything had caught up, like the slow motion going back to normal speed. And Castiel ran. The screaming continued, and they ran, hard and fast. They heard the squealing of tires scraping across the street, but they didn’t look back. All they had been able to think of was the screaming and the gunshots and the voice. They knew the voice. The voice._

_As they approached their home and slowed down slightly, they realized. Like a cloud of smoke dispersing. And they breathed the owner of the voice’s name aloud without meaning it._

_“Dean?”_

_Dean?_

“Dean.”

The two of them are in the bathroom. The one down the hall from the cafeteria with the broken toilets. The one that few people come into during lunch. Though during class, it’s something of a makeout room.

“Yeah…?” Dean says as he looks up at him from the blue tile floor. “Uh...sorry, what was the question?”

Castiel can’t help but smile slightly. They find Dean absolutely adorable when he’s flustered. They have for a while now, though they wouldn’t admit it to him. Especially after the incident of sophomore year, when a junior boy had asked Dean out during lunch. The words “sorry, I don’t swing that way” have unfortunately lived in Castiel’s mind since then, and sometimes, he’ll think of them and realize they’ve left a wound that has been infected and is slowly destroying him. He’s tried to move on, but it’s not exactly easy when the love of his life is his best friend. It’s painful in hundreds of ways, and keeping it inside of him doesn’t help, but he doesn’t want to ruin this and lose Dean forever, so he’s silent on it. He still finds him perfectly cute, though. He can’t deny that. “This is like the third time I’m saying it, but that was you at the bank last night, wasn’t it?” they say, eyes meeting the water-colours of green in Dean’s irises. Dean quickly looks away half a second after.

“I’ve...been to the bank, but I don’t think I went last night,” he says, distractedly and quickly. The lie is painfully obvious. Which is strange, because Dean is one of the best liars Castiel has ever met.

“I know it was you,” they insist. Dean shifts, eyes darting around the world. “You’re Spiderman. You…” He pauses. “I recognized your voice.”

Dean looks at him, and his tongue slips out from his mouth and runs nervously over his lower lip. Castiel pretends not to notice. “I- No, that’s not-” Dean tries. “I’m not- Look, Cas, you sure you didn’t just dream it?”

Castiel nearly bursts out laughing. They pull out their now fully charged phone and pull up an article on the robbery instead. “I’m sure.”

Dean’s face falls. He looks somewhere between devastated and scared. “Shit,” he breathes, turning around. “You weren’t supposed to know.”

Castiel hums “Obviously. You would’ve told me if I was. We tell each other everything.”

Dean glances back at him and snorts a laugh. “Not everything,” he says so quietly that Castiel almost doesn’t hear. They frown slightly, because they don’t know what Dean means by that. They decide to ignore it.

“Okay, why didn’t you tell me this?”

Dean leans against the wall. His shoulders shrug, and he winces. Castiel assumes it has something to do with the altercation from last night. “Guess I just wanted to keep you safe.”

It’s Castiel’s turn to snort a laugh. “Safe?” they ask, unconvinced. Dean looks up at them and shoots them a look that makes their smile fade quickly.

“I don’t exactly go out there and make friends. It’s dangerous. And if the people I love know it’s me out there doing that shit, they worry, first of all. And second of all, they might do something stupid and almost get themselves killed.”

Castiel nods slightly, looking down at their shoes. “Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.”

Silence ensues, and it’s the most awkward Castiel’s felt around Dean for a while.

“Isn’t it dangerous for you, too?” they say after a moment.

“Yeah, I guess,” Dean responds. “But because of my...abilities, it’s better.” He sighs. “Just don’t do anything stupid.”

Castiel looks at him. “Like what?” he asks pointedly. Dean shrugs.

“Worry about me and try to help me fight these people and stuff. Y’know. Anything stupid.”

“I thought you said I was smart,” Castiel says, frowning overdramatically. “Why would I do something stupid?”

Dean laughs. “Because you worry.”

Castiel can’t deny it. They stay silent. For a moment, before speaking again. “I could help you, though.”

“Cas, the fuck did I just say?”

“Not go out with you, Dean. Just like…” He pauses. “How do you find crime to fight?”

Dean raises an eyebrow. “Uh, I just sorta...swing around the city. God, this is weird to talk about.”

Castiel nods and smiles. “I could help you find it easier. Charlie’s been teaching me some hacking, I know how to get into police reports and things like that. I wouldn’t have to leave my bedroom.”

Dean purses his lips in a way that makes Castiel want to kiss him. They don’t move any closer because they know they just might if they do. “I guess…?” Dean says, before sighing. “Can you come over after school? There’s a lot to talk about and I just. Lunch is probably almost over and our friends probably think we’re making out or something.”

Castiel’s chest tightens in a way that makes him long to be close to his best friend. He tries to ignore it. He knows Dean’s joking, but the way his words affect him is undeniable. He says nothing.

“Let’s just...” Dean starts. Castiel looks down. “Let’s go back and talk about this later?”

They can hear the smile in his voice, and they nod slowly. “Alright.” His shoes come into Castiel’s line of vision, and when they look up, he’s standing less than a foot away.

“And don’t tell anyone,” he says after a moment. “Please.”

  
Castiel nods and smiles slightly, even though his heart aches. He should be focusing on the fact that his best friend is Spiderman. He is. He’s worried about him. But he also can’t help but feel the emptiness in his soul that will never be filled because Dean doesn’t feel the same. After his parents left him and his siblings, he was alone. And then he met Dean, and he wasn’t alone, and he loved Dean. He _loves_ Dean. But Dean can never feel the same. “I won’t. Promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you liked that chapter, have a great day/night 💕
> 
> -vulcanarmr and izzysapphic


	3. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, we are not dead!! hope you enjoy this chapter!!

**DEAN.**

  
  
  


Dean doesn’t look at Cas until school’s out, despite having two classes with him after lunch. Or more accurately, Dean  _ refuses _ to look at Cas. Yeah, maybe there’s something fucked up about that, because Cas is his best friend and all, but the fact that they know about the whole Spiderman thing feels weird. It feels nice to be able to tell someone, but it’s also scary to think of what could happen to them because of it. If Cas ever got hurt, Dean’d never forgive himself. So yeah, maybe he’s shutting them out, just for a minute. But they’re coming over after school, so it should be fine. He won’t be able to shut them out completely just because he doesn’t know what to do with his feelings.

The car ride is quiet until Sam, probably tired and annoyed and curious as to what’s going on, decides to speak up. “Did you two get into a fight or something?” he asks, and Dean shakes his head, shifting a bit on the seat at the uncomfortableness of the still present pain in his body.

“Nope,” he says.

“Of course not,” Cas says at the same time. Dean glances at him, and their eyes meet for a moment. Dean feels all kinds of guilty when they do. He knows it makes no sense to not be talking to Cas after all of this, but he can’t help it. He doesn’t completely know why he does it either. Maybe he’s embarrassed he didn’t tell Cas or maybe he’s scared he’s judging him or some shit. It doesn’t matter, because it’s all he does. It’s pretty much all he knows if he doesn’t know what to do. It’s really dumb, and he should probably work on that, but oh well. At least he’ll be forced out of it now since Cas is going home with him and he literally has like no choice but to talk to him.

When they get to the apartment building and walk up to Jody’s apartment, it’s quiet again. They don’t speak to each other until they’re in the one of the two bedrooms in the apartment that belongs to Dean. Sam goes to his own room, which used to be Jody’s until she took them in permanently and insisted that she’d sleep on the couch because she “sleeps at work half the time anyway”. She’s a firefighter, which is really cool, in Dean’s opinion. But anyway. They get to Dean’s room, and the moment the door closes and locks, Cas talks.

“Did I do something?” he asks. He seems half annoyed and half concerned. Dean quickly shakes his head.

“No, no...sorry,” he says quickly. Cas nods and sighs.

“I know you didn’t want me knowing about this, but please don’t shut me out just because I do now.”

Dean nods back. “I won’t. Sorry. I didn’t mean to- I just- I didn’t know how to talk to you with Sam around since he doesn’t know, and I was just thinking, I don’t know…”

Cas seems to hesitate, before smiling slightly. “It’s okay. We’re talking now, right?”

Dean smiles back, unable to help it. Cas’ smile has always been so damn contagious. “Right, yeah.” He clears his throat. There’s an awkward silence that makes Dean want to jump out a window and run away, though that’d probably just make the pain in his ribs and spine worse. Fucking truck. “D’you wanna...see my Spiderman shit?” he asks after the silence seems to turn deadly. Cas nods, which brings Dean to the realization that he’s been staring the entire time the silence has been going on. 

“Of course.”

Dean nods and tears his eyes away as he moves towards his bed and gets on his knees next to it. He reaches underneath and pulls out a box with a neatly folded blanket inside of it. He glances at the door, just in case, before taking out the blanket and setting it on the bed. His suit and web shooters are underneath. “So uh...that’s...it’s basically just like some red and blue clothes I found and a mask I made and-”

Cas takes out the mask and looks it over.

“-the web shooters are...well. It’s complicated. But I made them myself.”

Cas looks at him. Their eyes seem to shimmer for a moment. “You made these?”

Dean nods. “Uh, yeah-”

“What about the web stuff...that you use to swing around?”

Dean blinks a few times. It’s still surreal to think that Cas knows about all this now. He fights the urge to shut them out completely like his fucked up brain wants to. “Yeah, I made that, too. In...chemistry class.”

Cas laughs. “In chemistry...Dean, I knew you were a genius, but I didn’t know you were  _ a genius.” _

Dean laughs, too. It’s genuine. The urge to run away diminishes, as does the pain, momentarily. Cas isn’t judging him, and they don’t seem mad that he didn’t tell them. Everything’s fine. “I guess…” he mumbles. “It took me a while, but...yeah.” He smiles. “So uh...you were saying you could get into cop files and stuff? How...d’you do that?”

Cas beams. “I need your laptop. It’s really quite easy to get into the police radio and hear what they’re saying. And-”

There’s a knock at the door, and Cas goes quiet. Dean takes the mask from Cas and lays it back in the box, before setting the blanket back on top of all his things. He shoves the box under his bed as Cas goes for the door.

“Jody called,” Sam says once the box is under the bed and the door is open. “Says she’s spending the night at the fire station.”

Dean nods and smiles slightly. “Okay, thanks for uh...letting us know.”

Sam nods. “Yeah. Is Cas staying the night?” He smiles. “Oh, can we watch Star Trek?”

Dean pauses, looking at Cas, who nods with a small smile dancing on his lips.

“I’ll stay if you’ll let me,” he says. Dean grins and nods.

“Looks like he’s staying and we’re watching Star Trek.”

Dean forgets about the whole Cas-knows-about-Spiderman thing for a while. They watch until ten, before getting ready for bed. Dean lets Cas borrow some of his clothes. He does half the time Cas stays over, because half the time it’s unplanned and just because. Cas’ sister is fine with it, and so is Jody. Plus, it gives Dean more time to spend with his best friend, who he wishes was his boyfriend. Those nights when Cas sleeps over are some of the only nights Dean doesn’t go out looking for crime to stop.

He’s lying on some blankets on the floor, every position he tries to lie in uncomfortable with pain, when Cas speaks up from his bed. “I can show you how to do the thing now,” he says. Dean sits up and looks at him in the dark. He winces just slightly, but smiles.

“Awesome.” He moves to get his laptop. A few minutes later, and they’re listening to the police radio. On Dean’s fucking laptop. And Cas made it seem so easy. “It’s really that simple?” Dean asks quietly. Cas looks at him in the glow from the computer screen and nods.

“Yeah, not too difficult,” they say. Dean hums, leaning just a bit closer as they listen. And listen. And listen. And Dean thinks he might just kiss Cas for no reason at all. He’s tired, and he’s wondering how bad it could really be. What if he did it? What if leaned forward just a little more? What if he kissed his best friend, felt their lips on his, held him close? Would Cas like that? Would Cas hate him?

There’s a voice from the laptop.

Break in at NovakCorp HQ.

Perpetrators are armed.

Dean pushes thoughts of Cas away and reaches under the bed, almost instinctively. He strips down to his boxers and pulls on his suit, forgetting Cas exists for a moment. Forgetting because he’s trying to forget. Trying to pretend that all he knows is the crime that’s going on and not how pretty Cas is.

“Dean…?” Cas’ voice says. Dean looks at him, just about to pull on his mask. 

“Yeah?” he answers. He feels stupid for it. He’s in a hurry suddenly. He can’t think about Cas. But he wants to.

“I…” Cas shakes their head. “Be careful,” they whisper. Dean swallows and nods. He wants to stay now. He wants to stay and tell Cas exactly how he feels, or at least just tell him that he’ll let the cops handle it. But he knows he can’t. He forces aching muscles to pull his mask over his face, and then he’s out the window and swinging through the city, cold wind in his face, each swing bringing a sting through his sides.

He doesn’t get there in time.

That fact really does push the thought of Cas away.

The police are there first, because it takes Dean a moment to get ahold of himself and remember where he’s going. He gets lost, because he’s stupid, and because he lets feelings he shouldn’t even have get in the way. But now he can’t think of Cas, because the police are there first. The police are there first, and whoever was robbing the place isn’t. He’s too late. He couldn’t stop whatever happened. He tries to listen in to see if there’s anyone hurt or figure out what was taken. He looks over the scene. There’s shattered glass. There’s sirens. There’s chatter and confused looks. And then there’s a sinking feeling in Dean’s stomach that grows when he sees a silhouette on one of the rooftops across from the one he’s on walking away.

He moves to follow them.

He regrets it later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading!! izzysapphic and i have planned out most of this, so it'll all come together better soon heheheh,,,i can't wait, it's gonna be awesome,,,,,,,
> 
> have a beautiful day/night <3
> 
> -vulcanarmr


End file.
